The second big (longer than a weekend) shutdown for this project has commenced, so where are we at? The project summary Click here for my long post on the project details, or here’s a summary: Originally just removal of the Ormond level crossing was funded by the Coalition. The project was expanded to include adjacent ... [More]
(Yeah nah I didn’t really damage the car with my sneaker. Apparently it was damaged in a collision on Wednesday night, and left at the scene, presumably for later towing. Hopefully nobody was hurt.)
So, today Google Transit (Maps) enabled public transport planning in Victoria, including right across Melbourne. Hallelujah. This has been a long time coming. Google Transit and the GTFS file format originated about ten years ago, and quickly took hold in North American cities, as well as elsewhere around the world. Around the same time, the ... [More]
Ten years ago this month Melbourne was in the grip of the Commonwealth Games. As I noted at the time, it was a good excuse to Blame The Games for any delay or anything else going wrong. (Including crowded trains.) But it was also a lot of fun. These photos are from the baton relay ... [More]
On the weekend I was chatting about the Dandenong skyrail proposal to rellies at their house near Hughesdale station. They are keeping an open mind; they are not immediately under the rail line, and they can see the obvious benefit from getting the level crossings removed quickly, but are concerned about some aspects, which it ... [More]
From time to time I’ll refer to the Frankston line on Twitter with the abbreviation FKN. I’m not just trying to get a cheap laugh. Well okay, perhaps I am, but what people might not realise is that’s actually the official station code for Frankston. Good morning #Bentleigh. They're not lying about the 30 minute ... [More]
A few people have asked me about this in the past few months — what if Bentleigh had got “skyrail”? It’s interesting to consider, though it was never going to happen. Firstly, the timing was wrong. The Coalition had fully funded the Ormond level crossing for removal in May 2014, with designs already having determined ... [More]
LED displays are quite common on public transport. For instance in Melbourne they are used for destination signs on many trains, trams and buses. They are also used for street Smartbus indicator signs, and for non-CBD railway station “PIDs” (passenger information displays) showing next train departures. While they are generally pretty easy to read, they ... [More]
Ian Woodcock (RMIT) and John Stone (Melbourne Uni) have a new report out comparing level crossing removal methods. The Age has a story on it this morning, and hopefully the full report will be online very soon. UPDATE: Here it is. I did manage to get a sneak preview, and looks at various case studies ... [More]
I bought some Billy bookshelves for the livingroom some years ago. I picked their beech colour… and then they discontinued it. While I love the look, and the reconfigurability of the moveable shelves and the fact that you can always buy more (well, except in beech, so not really in my case), I can’t say ... [More]